Bridging nervous systems and prostheses

I am currently using principles of neuroscience, engineering and mathematics to assess emerging prosthetic devices and to direct their improvement. This work is part of a large project that aims to provide upper-limb amputees with more capable prostheses providing the sense of touch by directly connecting devices with nervous systems. The assessment tool will provide feedback about various aspects of prostheses to help biomedical engineers target improvements to the weakest link in their systems. In this work we use mathematical methods to simulate the human nervous system and we use haptic (touch interface) devices to test how people plan and make movements. ​

Here I am working on a 3D virtual reality display and I'm holding the end of an integrated haptic device. The device provides pinpoint position information and can produce forces so the user can actually "feel" the 3D images that are displayed.

Using robots to study biology

I build robots that are designed to mimic real animals, like lobsters, jellyfish and honeybees. One reason to do this is to create a robot that can behave like an animal in the wild. Animals can figure their way out of tricky and unfamiliar situations, and it would be great if our robots could do the same. Modern robots often get stuck, lost, or break down, but that doesn’t happen very often with real animals. By mimicking the real animals, we hope to improve the capabilities of our robots.

The latest RoboLobster, the result of my PhD work

I also use the animal robots to expand our understanding of how the nervous system works. How does the lobster’s brain control leg movement when the animal is walking forward? We control a robotic lobster, RoboLobster, with a simulated nervous system based on what we think is actually going on in the real lobster. By comparing how RoboLobster and a real lobster behave under controlled environmental conditions, we can figure out what we do and don’t know about lobster nervous systems. If the lobster and robot behave differently, we know that something is wrong with our hypothesis of how the nervous system works, and we can run more biological experiments to figure out what is going on. By studying the relatively simple nervous system of a lobster, we can gain insight into the basics of how our own nervous systems work. Understanding such basic neuroscience principles may help us in the future to treat neurological problems such as strokes and traumatic brain injuries.

Here's me wiring up RoboLobster's leg assembly.

You can read more about why we use robots to study biology in this post by Angela over at InSolution, this Q&A with KatiePhd, or in this blog post I wrote. And for more info on our collaborative Robobees project, check out the project page.​RELATED SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES:

​Understanding the octopus' intelligence

We are just beginning to understand the remarkable intelligence of the octopus. Over the past 12 years I've conducted research at the Seattle Aquarium and in the field on the Caribbean island of Bonaire to study how octopus learn and the behavioral adaptations they've developed to survive and thrive.

Heading out for octopus field observations on the island of Bonaire.

Administering a cognitive test to "Billye" the Giant Pacific Octopus at the Seattle Aquarium.